Council tax new changes

firsttimebuyer213

As of April 2024, my local authority (not sure about others) quite slyly introduced a new rule that means any property unoccupied for more than one year will be charged double the annual standard council tax rate. We completed and got the  keys on the 4th April as soon as this came into force - there was absolutely no warning from our estate agent or solicitor that this was being enforced. Prior to April 2024 it was only applied if the property was empty for 2 years. Fast forward to today, you can imagine my surprise when I've been hit with an almost £3500 council tax bill as a first time buyer, that's almost £300 a month I have to pay. For what? Does anyone know if I can appeal this? 

maman

Sorry if I'm being dense but if you've only owned the house for a couple of weeks then the previous owner is liable for the council tax before that? 🤔

firsttimebuyer213

maman said:

Sorry if I'm being dense but if you've only owned the house for a couple of weeks then the previous owner is liable for the council tax before that? 🤔

Apparently not - it's been empty for over a year so we're being charged with the 1 year unoccupied rate even though we've had nothing to do with the property prior to 4th April. Will be speaking to the solicitor tomorrow who did our conveyancing 

elsien

The premium applies to the property at the time the change came in so yes if you have just bought it, you are liable for the tax.  As this would appear to come from government policy I’m not sure that there are any grounds for appeal. 

fatbelly

That rate apples to the owner of an empty property.

Once you move in, the rate reverts to the standard rate

cymruchris

Not sure I fully understand - are you saying the council want to bill you - the new owner - for the time it was unoccupied and owned by the previous owner? Or are you talking about moving in, and your new bill landing on the mat saying you have to pay double tax for the upcoming year?

If the former - that doesn't sound right - as council tax is only your liability once you own the property.

If the latter - then once you've moved in - you inform the council and they revise the bill to the regular rate.

If it's neither of the above - please update us with a bit more clarity and detail.

GrumpyDil

elsien said:

The premium applies to the property at the time the change came in so yes if you have just bought it, you are liable for the tax.  As this would appear to come from government policy I’m not sure that there are any grounds for appeal. 

Does that also allow for backdated liability to a period before you owned the property as that would be a little unusual to say the least?

Flugelhorn

From the House of Commons Library:

"

Acquiring an empty property you intend to live in

If you have bought a property that has already been empty for two years or more (one year in Scotland and Wales) and you do not immediately occupy it, you may have to pay the premium. Liability for the premium depends on how long the property has been empty: a change in ownership does not ‘reset the clock’. As soon as you move into the property, the premium will cease to apply.

Liability for a council tax premium will not appear on the normal legal searches that are conducted when purchasing a property."

You need to discuss with the council and they should reset the rate

firsttimebuyer213

cymruchris said:

Not sure I fully understand - are you saying the council want to bill you - the new owner - for the time it was unoccupied and owned by the previous owner? Or are you talking about moving in, and your new bill landing on the mat saying you have to pay double tax for the upcoming year?

If the former - that doesn't sound right - as council tax is only your liability once you own the property.

If the latter - then once you've moved in - you inform the council and they revise the bill to the regular rate.

If it's neither of the above - please update us with a bit more clarity and detail.

Yes, exactly that re your first point. They left it unoccupied last spring but still owned it up until we got the keys on 4th April. Yet we're paying for them leaving it unoccupied until we start living there. A particular sore point is that they left the property in such a terrible state that we've got to condense all the renovations etc to a few months. 

elsien

GrumpyDil said:

elsien said:

The premium applies to the property at the time the change came in so yes if you have just bought it, you are liable for the tax.  As this would appear to come from government policy I’m not sure that there are any grounds for appeal. 

Does that also allow for backdated liability to a period before you owned the property as that would be a little unusual to say the least?

And possibly something that should have  been picked up during conveyancing? 

p00hsticks

Flugelhorn said:

From the House of Commons Library:

"

Acquiring an empty property you intend to live in

If you have bought a property that has already been empty for two years or more (one year in Scotland and Wales) and you do not immediately occupy it, you may have to pay the premium. Liability for the premium depends on how long the property has been empty: a change in ownership does not ‘reset the clock’. As soon as you move into the property, the premium will cease to apply.

Liability for a council tax premium will not appear on the normal legal searches that are conducted when purchasing a property."

You need to discuss with the council and they should reset the rate

... except that the OP has now added the additional information that they haven't yet moved in and the property is currently still empty, so they will still be liable for the 'unoccupied' rate until they do.